


Always Another Fish

by jedi_penguin



Category: I Spy (1965)
Genre: Character of Color, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-02
Updated: 2010-01-02
Packaged: 2017-10-05 15:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jedi_penguin/pseuds/jedi_penguin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scotty knows that Kelly's heart never breaks for long.  A follow up to "Tatia."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always Another Fish

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Kiss Challenge from the Robert Culp Board, in which Kelly kisses a girl who is never described.

"Two more of the same, Jack." The bartender gave him a blank look, so Kelly tried again. Holding up two fingers and using the careful enunciation of the very drunk, he said "_ni sake_. One for me and one for my friend. Please."

"What if your friend doesn't drink?" Scotty asked him sourly.

"Then I'll have two more for myself," Kelly answered grandly.

"You don't like _sake_."

"True, true," Kelly admitted. "But you have to stay in touch with the local color. There's tequila in Mexico and ouzo in Greece. Here in Tokyo, it's _sake_."

"When in Rome—"

"Drink red wine. Exactly."

Scotty smiled briefly, a tight movement around the mouth that never reached his eyes. "No fooling, man. Why're you doing this to yourself?"

"Don't give me that." Kelly threw back one of his drinks, barely cringing as the harsh liquid scalded the back of his throat. "You know why."

Scotty's face fell. "Yeah, I know."

Yeah, he did know. It was Scotty who told him that Tatia was an enemy agent and it was Scotty who had her picked up by the police for murder and espionage. But he didn't know everything. "I got a phone call from the Consul's office this afternoon. Seems a beautiful lady of our acquaintance was murdered today. She was in jail, awaiting trial for murder and espionage, when somebody slit her throat. Real professional job, the Consul says. They'll never catch the guy who did it."

Scotty laid a sympathetic arm across Kelly's shoulders. "I'm sorry man. I know how you felt about that chick."

"What are you sorry for? I'm the one who killed her." Off his partner's shocked look, Kelly shook his head irritably. "No, I didn't take a knife to her, but I **was** the one who fingered her as a double agent. I knew I was signing her death warrant when I left her room, but I did it anyway. That assassin just finished the job I started a couple of days ago."

Scotty shook his head sorrowfully. "Don't think that way, man. You did what you had to do. And remember, she would have killed you if she'd had the chance."

Kelly knew his partner was right, but it was hard to concentrate on what was true when all he could hear was Tatia's voice echoing around his brain. "_Kelly! Come back, Kelly! Come back and tell them you didn't mean it. What have you done to me, Kelly? Come back!_" He wondered if the Tatia in his head would ever shut up.

His internal turmoil must have shown on his face, or maybe Tatia really was crying loud enough for other people to hear her, because Scotty seemed to get it. "I know what this is really about. You think you're never going to find another girl like Tatia and you're all depressed about it."

"I **hope** I never find another girl like Tatia," Kelly muttered.

"You know what I mean, man. You think there isn't a girl out there like the Tatia you **thought** you knew. But you're wrong. There are a million girls like her out there."

"A million girls, huh?"

Scotty smiled. "Maybe two million. Maybe ten. Maybe a billion."

"Nah." Kelly reached over and snagged Scotty's drink and tossed it back. "**You're** wrong. There may be a lot of fish in the sea, but they sure as hell aren't all equal. And none of them are Tatia."

"I'm right," Scotty said stubbornly. "I'm right and I'll prove it to you. Give me your tie."

"My tie?" Despite his confusion, Kelly was already slipping it off. He trusted Scotty too much to ever ignore an order from him. "What do you want with my tie?"

"I need it for an experiment."

"What sort of experiment? That's my best tie there, man. Cost me almost five bucks."

"Don't worry. You'll get it back safe and sound if you'll just sit still for a moment." Scotty wrapped the tie around his head, effectively blindfolding Kelly. "There! That ought to do it."

"Do what? What are you up to, Herman?"

"I already told you, man. I'm going to prove to you that Tatia wasn't the one-of-a-kind girl that you think was. Now, just stay there for a few minutes."

"I guess I'll have to, unless I want to bump into everything in the bar. Can you point out my drink before you go though?" Scotty wordlessly put Kelly's hand on a warm cup and then left. Kelly felt like an idiot sitting there with his tie over his eyes, but his faith in his partner was too complete for him to even think of taking it off.

Kelly always knew when Scotty was around. He couldn't explain how his partner's presence felt different from everybody else's; it just did. After an eternity, or at least five minutes, Kelly felt Scotty return. "Can I take this off now?"

"Not yet." Scotty's voice suddenly changed, and Kelly got the idea that he was talking to somebody else. "Now, you understand what to do, right?" The other person must have nodded because Kelly didn't hear anything but Scotty was clearly satisfied. "Beautiful. Okay, Kel, I'm going to prove to you once and for all that Tatia is far from unique. Now."

And with no more warning than that, some girl started kissing him. She knew how to kiss, this girl. She started by running her tongue along his lips until he parted them for her. As soon as he opened his mouth, she responded by sucking in his bottom lip for a moment before sweeping in with her tongue.

As his tongue danced with hers, Kelly concentrated on noticing as much about the girl as he could. She wore some sort of floral perfume, light and barely noticeable. It suggested either a very modest girl (which seemed unlikely, given what a terrific kisser she was), or an incredibly subtle one. Subtle girls intrigued Kelly, so that was fine with him, but it was the taste of her that really captured Kelly's attention. As he swept through her mouth, sweetness overpowered him and almost made him miss an underlying harshness. He supposed she must have downed a scotch and soda before coming to his table, but somehow he didn't think so. In an uncharacteristic flight of fancy, Kelly decided that this girl must be exactly what she smelled and tasted like: a complex creature, full of delightful contradictions. He would enjoy getting to know her but would never figure her out. And that was not a bad thing.

Turned on by his own speculations as much as by the kiss, Kelly circled his hands around the girl and dug them into her shoulder length hair. She moaned at the contact and Kelly couldn't help smiling at the sound. It was his first genuine, unforced smile in a week. From the moment Scotty suggested that Tatia might be an enemy agent, he'd had nothing to smile about.

Kelly expected that thoughts of Tatia might ruin the moment, but they didn't. Whatever else this girl might do to or for him, she'd already managed to put some things in perspective for him. She wasn't Tatia, but she had her own uniqueness and only a fool would miss out on the chance to discover it. So Scotty was right after all: there were other fish in the sea, just as tasty as the one he'd lost.

He was feeling lightheaded and in need of oxygen, so he reluctantly broke the kiss. She let out a small whimper at the loss of contact and he grinned in response. "Thank you, honey. To what do I owe the **considerable** pleasure of your company?"

"Your friend, Mr. Scott, said that you were devastated by a recent loss." Despite his best attempt, Kelly couldn't pick up a distinctive accent from the girl. He guessed she was European, but wasn't even certain on that count. "Have I helped at all?"

"You have," he told her. He meant it. A week ago, he'd been convinced that Tatia was the girl he was meant to marry, the last girl he'd ever be with for the rest of his life. After that kiss, however, he knew that he wasn't ready to hang up his shingle after all. "You really, really have. You're a miracle worker, to tell you the truth."

"I'm glad."

"Now," Kelly said with a clap of his hands. "Am I allowed to look upon my lovely heroine, or are we ships that pass in the nights? If the latter, that's alright, but I'd sure be happier with the former."

"I'd like to meet you," the girl said. "I'd like that very much."

Kelly took off the tie and looked at his rescuer. He had to hand it to Scotty; the man had taste. "How do you do, my dear? My name is Kelly."

She smiled shyly and reached out her hand. As Kelly took it, he realized that life was actually pretty good. She leaned in for a kiss, and then life became even better.

THE END


End file.
